


You and Me On a School Night

by FutureLikeJicasso



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Sharing a Bed, oh yes it's another one of these
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FutureLikeJicasso/pseuds/FutureLikeJicasso
Summary: Seungmin is usually pretty good about getting his eight hours of sleep, but tonight, he just wants to stay up all night with his best friend by his side.It's like it's just him and Felix in the whole world, and Seungmin doesn't want this moment to end.
Relationships: Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix
Comments: 24
Kudos: 275





	You and Me On a School Night

**Author's Note:**

> so I misheard the lyrics to Twice - Dance The Night Away and somehow that spawned this entire...whatever this is
> 
> also I dedicate this nonsense to AO3 user bitsori for introducing me to the concept of seunglix and ruining my life with it

Seungmin was a firm believer in the merits of a healthy eight hours of sleep every night. Early to bed and early to rise, he credited his regular sleep pattern with his ability to, unlike many of his peers, generally keep his life in order most of the time. Pop quizzes or PE classes in first period weren’t a problem for Seungmin at all, and while he may have been subjected to a little good-natured teasing for it from his friends, it would take a very special occasion to keep Seungmin awake past his bedtime.

Even his parents being out of town overnight for a function with his father’s company wasn’t enough to pull him away from his regular schedule. At least, not on its own.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright here by yourself?” Seungmin’s mother had asked him, smiling kindly at her son as she scribbled out a packing list in a notebook. “You’ll have school the next day, but you could have a friend over, if you wanted. Just to keep you company.”

Seungmin had quietly contemplated his geography homework, then. He had a lot of homework due that day, and while he’d probably be able to get it all finished well in advance, it may not be the wisest decision to sign away the night before so many deadlines like that.

That was Seungmin thinking with his brain, at least. However sometimes, just sometimes, an obnoxious little skip in his chest would override all logical thought and cause him to make less-than-ideal choices. “Maybe…” he pursed his lips in thought, geography homework turning into squiggles in front of his eyes, “...maybe Felix?”

Seungmin’s parents liked Felix - they’d _always_ liked Felix, so with a little adoring coo from Seungmin’s mother, the decision was made. Felix had accepted the invitation readily, practically radiating sunshine from his face as Seungmin explained the situation. It was like he was almost _surprised_ to be invited, as if he weren’t constantly in Seungmin’s house, and Seungmin’s parents didn’t obviously love him. And that was that.

Briefly, Seungmin felt a little bad that he hadn’t thought to invite Hyunjin as well. He knew that Hyunjin wouldn’t have been able to accept anyway - the other boy had weekly dance lessons that he wouldn’t skip for the world - but still the tiny pang of guilt remained that his first and only thought had been to ask Felix.

It wasn’t just Seungmin’s parents who’d always liked Felix.

-

Seeing Felix walk through the school gates with a backpack slung over one shoulder alongside his schoolbag gave Seungmin a funny feeling of butterflies in his stomach that really should not have been there. Felix visited his house _all the time_.

Though, admittedly, it had been quite a while since he last stayed the night.

“There’s a sleepover and I wasn’t invited?” Hyunjin pouted at lunch, as Felix alternated shovelling food into his mouth and rushing through math exercises that had only been assigned that morning because _I don’t want to do homework at Seungmin’s house_.

Seungmin frowned. “I knew you had dance class tonight, and you get upset when you have to turn people down for anything. I did you a _favour_ by not inviting you.”

“You sure did - I don’t think I’d want to third wheel for you two, anyway.”

Seungmin just kicked Hyunjin under the table at that, the taller boy letting out a strange mixture of a laugh and a yelp as foot met shin. Felix continued working on his math exercises, a strange expression on his face, and watching Felix work brought the butterflies back again, for some reason.

“Hey…” Seungmin murmured when Hyunjin went to buy himself another drink from the vending machines, “I’m doing some homework later tonight, we can do it together.”

“You finish your homework way faster than me, though,” Felix grumbled, face half-obscured by his math book. “If you had to wait around for me to get it done, we’d waste so much time we could be spending doing something fun, instead.”

Seungmin swallowed hard, and could only nod. Maybe he should at least get a head start on the homework, too.

  
  
  


Walking home arm-in-arm with his best friend was something Seungmin would never, ever tire of.

“I’m back,” he called out to the empty house out of habit as he unlocked the front door. His parents had left for their trip while he was at school, and wouldn’t be back until after his bedtime the following night - it was funny, he got home before either of his parents fairly often, but knowing they wouldn’t be back at all until tomorrow felt different somehow.

_“Honey, I’m home~”_ Felix chuckled in English, following Seungmin in through the door. He held out a hand for Seungmin’s keys, which were pressed into Felix’s palm with probably more skin contact than strictly necessary, and locked the door behind them as Seungmin set about taking off his shoes. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“I think Mom said she’d leave us some food to heat up. We could watch a movie, maybe?” Admittedly, Seungmin hadn’t actually made any plans, except for finishing his homework at some point, but any time spent with Felix was guaranteed to be a good time, and the other boy was more the spontaneous type, anyway. At least Felix seemed to approve of the movie idea. “I can go get the food, and you set up the movie? You can pick, just make it something in English - I need to up my listening practice before college starts.”

_“Got it~”_ and after kicking off his shoes, Felix disappeared in the direction of the living room, easily navigating Seungmin’s home as if it were his own. Seungmin allowed himself just a moment to watch Felix go, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth before he headed to the kitchen to get started on the food.

And so began what was, essentially, an evening of nonstop contact with Felix. Seungmin didn’t really notice it when they were at school, or otherwise around other people, but when he and Felix were alone together he would become painfully aware of how much they touched - how physically close they were, literally _all_ the time. From cuddling up in the very middle of a couch definitely wide enough for two people to have their own personal bubble, tucked up under the same blankets to watch a movie, to eating their dinner from the same tupperware boxes (and the same tub of ice cream, thoughtfully left by Seungmin’s mother in a flavour Felix was very much known to like) with their own chopsticks and spoons, to leaning in even closer than close to whisper comments about the movie.

They’d always been that way. Being close was just their thing - it always had been, the two of them naturally being very physical people made it a given when they were put together.

  
  


Seungmin never could take Felix’s casually tactile nature for granted. _Foreigners from some countries don’t like to touch,_ Seungmin’s parents had gently told his embarrassed and frustrated younger self when a boy at his international kindergarten had refused to hold his hand in the playground. _It’s just not in their culture._ And so Seungmin had always tried to be careful, tried to be considerate about keeping his distance from others until he could be sure.

With Felix, though, there’d never been any uncertainty. What he’d lacked in Korean communication ability when he’d first moved to town back in elementary school, he’d more than made up for in dazzling charm and infectious energy that had made Seungmin immediately want to be his friend _very very badly_ . Felix _loved_ to touch - holding Seungmin’s hands as they chatted so Seungmin knew he wasn’t done talking yet, and just needed more time to think about his words; leading Seungmin by the hand to look at cool bugs or rocks or hiding spots he found, or poking his cheek to get him to turn and look his way.

But most of all, when Seungmin helped Felix with his homework or his Korean or just sat and listened to him during a difficult time, and words in any language to express the extent of his gratitude failed him, Felix would wrap his arms tightly around Seungmin and hug him, as if his thankful feelings would be imprinted onto Seungmin’s very skin like an invisible tattoo. 

Even as they grew older, and Felix’s Korean became more and more fluent, the pair would still be found in some kind of physical contact more often than not. It was just habit at this point.

A habit that Seungmin was intensely grateful for, even if he didn’t really let that show.

-

Seungmin had to wonder, sometimes, if there was a limit to the blissful domesticity one should typically enjoy with their best friend before it started to raise questions.

They’d washed the dishes together, side by side, passing dishes between soapy hands with bashful smiles and more touch than was really needed, before Felix excused himself to the bathroom to wash up first while Seungmin put everything away downstairs. Seungmin could honestly get used to this, quietly putting dishware into the cupboards while the sound of the shower running hummed through the building.

By the time Seungmin made his way upstairs, it seemed that Felix was already done in the bathroom - damp haired and dressed in a baggy t-shirt and a pair of old gym shorts from middle school, emptying the contents of his backpack. A spare mattress had been set up on the floor next to Seungmin’s bed, but Felix rarely used it when he came over, so for now it served as a dumping ground for most of the other boy’s belongings - handheld games, snacks, a clean uniform shirt for the next morning, and several bottles that Seungmin knew, by now, comprised Felix’s skincare routine.

Watching Felix’s fingertips spread lotion over his freckles, Seungmin wondered if he should start taking an interest in things like that, too. Something about the way Felix would forego his usual regime when sleeping over at other people’s houses, but felt comfortable enough to bring it all with him to Seungmin’s, made him weirdly happy.

Seungmin didn’t know what Felix used - maybe he should ask, or get some pointers. He could just use whatever Felix had? Then when Felix spent the night, they could share.

Felix’s little collection of bottles, stored neatly on the shelf in Seungmin’s bathroom...the image made him flustered, somehow, and just as Felix noticed his presence in the room, Seungmin quickly excused himself to shower.

  
  
  


“Hey, do you mind if I go over my notes for tomorrow’s English test once I’m done with the math homework?” Felix looked up from his game at that, hair still slightly damp and flopping over his face. They’d been like this for a while now - Felix laying on the mattress with his console and some snacks while Seungmin sat at his desk, working through the math exercises he didn’t quite finish while they were at school. It was something they usually did when Felix came over, not talking too much as Felix was absorbed in his game and Seungmin concentrated on his work, but the silence between them was a comfortable one.

That, and Felix had placed some of the open bags of snacks on top of his backpack, within Seungmin’s reach. Their hands would touch every so often, perhaps a little too often, as they both reached for a handful at the same time, and it was all Seungmin could do to push down the fluttering feeling in his chest every single time and keep his expression measured. “Sorry this is so boring.”

“It’s fine~” It was another one of those times. Both boys dipping their hands into the plastic bag with a _rustle_ , and finding the bag to be empty, Felix linked his fingers with Seungmin’s with a grin. Seungmin didn’t even need to be looking at Felix to know the look on his face - it was always the same when they held hands, and he could practically feel the warmth of Felix’s sunshine smile on his skin from there. “ _Want any help_?”

_“I’m fine, thank you, and you?”_ Seungmin felt Felix’s fingers tighten around his as the other boy snorted in response. “Seriously, I’m fine. I just need to check some grammar points.”

“Such a good student, Seungminnie~ you make me want to study, too.” It was Seungmin’s turn to laugh - Felix didn’t have to study for English tests, something Seungmin couldn’t help but envy. “But this dragon won’t slay itself, so…” Felix let go, then, but he didn’t quite remove his hand from the empty bag, fingertips lingering lightly against Seungmin’s skin. “Let me know if you want me to check anything, yeah? You can ask me anything~”

_“Thank you, ‘Lix.”_

And after that, they were both quiet for a while. Seungmin’s Day6 playlist ran on repeat at a low volume while Felix’s game _bleep_ ed and _bloop_ ed in the background, occasionally punctuated by whispered English expletives as the dragon in Felix’s game really did not want to slay itself or give Felix the pleasure of doing so.

Seungmin couldn’t concentrate fully on his English notes, not when Felix was there. Every time he finished reviewing a paragraph, like a weird kind of reward to himself, he let himself glance over at what Felix was doing, just for a moment. Most of the time, Felix was completely focused on his game, thumbs mashing buttons and tongue poked out in total concentration. He looked...really really cute like this. It was a Felix their friends didn’t really see often, hair sticking up at odd angles and a shine on his cheeks where his moisturiser hadn’t sunk in yet, a dusting of sugar on his lips from the candy he was eating that Seungmin had to force himself to look away from.

He liked getting to see Felix this way. Getting to see Felix so comfortable. Felix so comfortable in _Seungmin’s_ house - in Seungmin’s _room_.

Seungmin looked up, having finished another paragraph - just a few more to go - only to find Felix was looking right back at him. He suddenly felt extremely exposed, like he’d been caught staring, but the way Felix’s eyes widened when their gazes met made it feel almost like Felix was the one who’d been caught.

“Felix?” Eye contact felt like too much, all of a sudden, but Seungmin couldn’t bring himself to look away. “You good?”

“I- yeah. Yeah,” Felix laughed quietly. “It’s just nice watching you studying. You look really- uh, really um…” He glanced down and paused, cursing under his breath. “Ah...battery’s dying…I didn’t bring my charger.”

The battery light on the console in Felix’s hands flashed an indignant shade of red, demanding to be charged.

“There’s a cable for that one in the bottom drawer,” Seungmin went back to his revision, pretty sure he’d identified the console correctly. When Felix didn’t move in the corner of his vision, however, he looked up again. “What? You lost it here once, remember? You bought another one, then we found the old one under my bed. I kept it since you forget to bring your other one so often.”

“You’re an angel and a saint and the world doesn’t deserve you.” The words were rushed, tumbling out of Felix’s mouth as he scrambled to the drawer in question to look for his cable before his console gave up the ghost and he lost all of the evening’s progress, but they made Seungmin feel warm inside, anyway.

The console was saved in the nick of time, but Felix didn’t resume playing straight away. Instead, he went back to the bottom drawer, digging through it curiously. Had it been anyone else, Seungmin might have protested, and he still felt a little embarrassed having Felix rummaging through his belongings even if he had nothing to hide, but sometimes it really seemed like Felix, by virtue of being Lee Felix, could do whatever he wanted and Seungmin would be painfully endeared anyway.

“Oh!” Felix produced something else from the drawer - a tiny piece of plastic that Seungmin couldn’t quite see from his desk. It seemed to be a game cartridge. “Did I leave this behind? I wanted to play it a couple of days ago, but couldn’t find it.”

Seungmin squinted, and seeing the colours on the label, he remembered. “Yeah, you did. I found it last week. It’s one of your monster catching games, right?”

“Yeah…” Felix scratched at the base of his neck a little bit, biting his bottom lip. “Sorry I keep losing things at your house, I ‘m not always so scatterbrained…”

The words came out before Seungmin could think, because if he’d been thinking, he definitely wouldn’t have said them. “Just around me, huh?”

He kind of wanted to die inside, but the way Felix visibly flushed, looking kind of like he wanted to die on the _outside_ , had Seungmin unable to do anything but laugh until Felix, a little sheepishly, joined in. “I guess I get a little too comfortable and forget myself.”

“No such thing,” he smiled at Felix, then, hoping his expression came across as kind. The other boy seemed genuinely embarrassed, and while Seungmin could be a little cold at times, he didn’t want Felix to feel anything but relaxed around him. Getting people to relax in his company wasn’t exactly his specialty, but that just made him want it even _more_. “You’re here all the time anyway, it’s really okay. I don’t mind you leaving things here.”

Felix just smiled back with a soft _thanks, mate_ , fingertips fiddling with the neckline of his shirt. The games console, now displaying a cheerful little green light, twiddled away with its _beep_ ity _boop_ ity music from its place on the mattress.

“Did you slay the dragon yet?” Seungmin let his gaze rest on the console, and Felix followed.

“Oh, yeah…” he laughed. “I did. Then a bigger dragon showed up, and I died.”

“Looks like you’ve got work to do, then~”

“So have you~”

Seungmin’s favourite song popped up on the playlist, then, and the two boys once again settled into silence together - Felix on the floor with his game, and Seungmin still working through his English notes so everything would be done by bedtime. Okay, so maybe Seungmin was being a little boring, but maybe that was okay, when it was Felix.

When it came to Felix, it was just nice to be together, no matter what.

-

“Ah, the spare mattress is covered in crumbs.”

Snacks eaten, lights dimmed and teeth brushed, it was time to start the charade they always went through when Felix stayed the night. It was always the same, the same played out script, but they couldn’t _not_ do it.

Of course the spare mattress was covered in crumbs. There was a reason Seungmin insisted on a No Eating On Seungmin’s Bed rule, that very much didn’t apply to the mattress.

“Whoops. I can clean it up…?”

“Hmm, that would take a while though, and we really should be getting to bed,” Seungmin hummed. “If you wanted, we could…”

_“Sure thing~”_ and Felix was already climbing into Seungmin’s bed before he could actually finish his sentence. Every time. _Every_ single time, they had to go through the usual back and forth that led them here.

It was with those dangerously domestic thoughts running through his head and straight down into his chest that Seungmin joined Felix under the covers. The thoughts about how Felix already had a toothbrush he left at Seungmin’s house; about the way their phones sat side by side on Seungmin’s bedside table as they charged, as if the phones, like their owners, were cuddled together for the night.

“So…” Felix began, a waver of uncertainty in his voice. It was a little cramped in Seungmin’s single bed, but Seungmin wasn’t sure how to reach out first to get closer. To, well, cuddle. “I guess this is goodnight?”

Seungmin swallowed. It was his usual bedtime, yes. They had school the next day, and at least one test. Last time he’d stayed up past his bedtime had been for a concert the previous summer - Seungmin _liked his routine_.

But at the same time...high school was going to be over soon. Seungmin and Felix would be going to the same college, and it would probably be easy to visit each other’s rooms like this, maybe easier than ever once they didn’t have to ask their parents for permission, but they wouldn’t be taking any of the same classes and maybe, just maybe, Seungmin was a little bit scared of losing Felix.

Felix shone everywhere he went, like the sun itself pulling everyone around him into his orbit. He easily made friends - he _already had college friends_ , an older friend of his family was already at the same university, and Felix had enthusiastically told Seungmin all about _Chris-hyung_ and how cool he was multiple times now. It had been part of the reason Felix wanted to go to that particular college in the first place.

Seungmin wouldn’t lose Felix entirely, no. They’d been friends too long for that. But he was still afraid of losing what they had _right now_. Right now, in this moment.

Perhaps it was childish, but all Seungmin could think about was how he wanted this moment, right now, to last forever.

“No…” he murmured, remembering he hadn’t actually given Felix an answer. “I kinda want to stay awake.”

Felix raised an eyebrow then, having rolled over to face Seungmin. The light may have been low, just Seungmin’s bedside lamp, but it was enough to make out the surprise in the other boy’s eyes. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just…” well, it was probably best to be honest. “Everything’s great, really. I just want it to last a little longer, you know?” Seungmin felt like an idiot, but Felix was smiling, pulling the blankets up under his chin and looking oh-so comfortable as he waited for Seungmin to finish speaking, or give up trying to make his point in a way that didn’t sound quite so stupid.

“I get that,” and Seungmin knew he could trust Felix when he said stuff like that. “Well then, new, rebellious Seungmin - what do you want to do?”

Seungmin didn’t really know how to answer that. How could he say _anything, as long as it’s with you_? Still, at least Felix could be relied on to come up with something, the other boy reaching over Seungmin to take his games console from the bedside table and switch the cartridges around to load up the monster catching game they’d discovered in the drawer earlier.

It was perfect. To give Seungmin a better view, Felix easily moved into Seungmin’s arms, their legs tangled together under the sheets and Seungmin holding Felix loosely around his waist as they watched the action on the screen.

Seungmin didn’t know a whole lot about Felix’s games, but he knew enough. He knew enough to notice the canine-looking monster leading Felix’s party had been given the name _Seungminnie_ at some point, to which Felix mumbled that it had been cute when he caught it, which didn’t really answer anything and just made Seungmin feel a little warm. He knew Felix was a bit of a completionist, and made sure to squeeze the other boy lightly around the middle in quiet congratulations as he caught another, seemingly rare monster he hadn’t added to his collection yet. He knew Felix liked to skip dialogue, but was tapping through conversations at a slower pace than usual, possibly to give Seungmin more time to read the English words.

They’d been in the middle of a hushed debate about the ethics of catching some of the more human-looking monsters, Felix insisting they were like any other monster while Seungmin couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable catching and collecting creatures that looked like they could live in a house and pay taxes, when the battery light began to flash red again. The cable was on the other side of the room, and neither of the boys really wanted to move, so with a sigh of relief as he reached a save point just in time, Felix powered the console down and handed it to Seungmin to put back on the table.

Seungmin yawned, and when he opened his eyes again, Felix was grinning at him in the low light. “Bedtime?”

“No,” he grumbled, feeling a little like a defiant toddler. “Not tired. Let’s talk. About anything.”

Seungmin wouldn’t have been able to think of any topics himself, finding himself wholly unable to think about anything beyond Felix cuddled up against him. They didn’t have a shared screen to focus on anymore, but as Felix lightly traced the lettering of Seungmin’s concert tee with his fingertips, Seungmin didn’t think he would have been able to concentrate on a screen, anyway.

Felix didn’t seem to have that problem, though, and immediately launched into a spiel about college, about Chris-hyung, which would have made Seungmin feel almost jealous had the atmosphere not been so warm, so cosy. Just the two of them and their blankets in the soft glow of Seungmin’s bedside lamp.

Even if they talked about other people, this moment was still all their own. And Seungmin _had_ to stay awake to make it last as long as possible.

  
  
  


They’d looped back around to talking about college again by the time Felix fell quiet, a winding tangent about how Chris-hyung had promised to help Felix move into his accommodation and show them (not just Felix, as Seungmin would have assumed - the other boy made a point of stressing _us_ ) around campus trailing off into nothing. Well, not quite nothing, just soft, even breaths that would have had Seungmin almost convinced that Felix had fallen asleep.

At least until, taking hold of the front of Seungmin’s shirt lightly, Felix murmured, “I hope we can stay like this in college, too.”

“Like this?” Seungmin hoped Felix couldn’t feel his heartbeat speed up, but he almost definitely could. Like this? Like friends? Like _best_ friends? Like something else? Of course, they’d never been anything other than the best of friends, outside of Seungmin’s imagination, but still.

“Yeah...just like this.” In lieu of further explanation, Felix just cuddled closer against Seungmin under the blankets, nuzzling a little into his chest. This wasn’t entirely unusual for them, but something about the atmosphere made Seungmin tense. “So glad we can be like this after so long. After...everything, you know?”

For a moment, Seungmin really didn’t know. Their friendship had always been an idyllic one, without any real fights or fallouts, and their other friends often joked that the two had been made for each other. Seungmin couldn’t imagine what this _everything_ could be.

  
  


Not until Felix shifted almost nervously in his hold, swallowing hard enough for Seungmin to hear, and one thing came to mind. A time the previous year, studying for a history test together right here, on Seungmin’s bed, when a distracted and fidgeting Felix had flubbed six questions in a row and suddenly asked if he could tell Seungmin a secret.

_I like boys_ , Felix had stammered after a solid five minutes of wringing his hands and looking out of the window, before rushing to continue without so much as taking a breath. _Does this change everything? Does this change us?_

And while it had changed _everything_ in a sense, that instead of just uselessly pining for his best friend who liked girls, Seungmin now had to deal with the mortifying concept of uselessly pining for his best friend who liked _boys_ and just not _Seungmin_ , it also didn’t really change anything at all, and Seungmin had told Felix that. Not with words, not at first, but instead by pulling him close and holding him tightly, as they always did when words failed them. _Nothing has to change_ , Seungmin had told him after a long while, just quietly holding each other, their textbooks forgotten. _You don’t have to worry about a thing._

  
  


Apparently Felix was still worrying about it, all this time later, and Seungmin brought a hand up to play with Felix’s hair. “You don’t have to worry about that. I told you.”

Felix laughed a little, then. “I know you did. It’s like there’s nothing I can’t talk to you about, Seungminnie~” Seungmin felt a bit guilty at that - so many times, Felix had bared his entire soul to Seungmin in moments of panic, of desperation, and Seungmin had never really done the same thing back. In fact, the closer he got to Felix, the less he found himself wanting to share, sometimes. There were things he’d tell Felix, things he’d tell _anyone but_ Felix, and things he’d keep to himself, hidden away. Mostly the latter.

Maybe he was just trying way too hard to make Felix think he was cool.

“It’s like,” Felix continued, “I can tell you anything.”

“Yeah?” Seungmin didn’t have much to say, but it seemed the soft light and the close proximity made Felix want to share, and Seungmin wasn’t exactly going to stop him. Felix’s voice got a little deeper when he was sleepy - a low, comforting drawl that had Seungmin’s heart going haywire no matter what he was actually saying. He could read the phone book, even.

But Felix wasn’t one for just talking nonsense - maybe it came from learning Korean as his second language, but Felix always knew how to choose his words carefully when it mattered. In the exact moments that Seungmin would struggle to form a coherent sentence, Felix would always speak prettily. Moments like right now, as the world ended at the edges of the lamplight. “You mean so much to me,” he began, pausing like he was planning his next sentence with utmost care. Or perhaps just waiting to gauge Seungmin’s reaction. When Seungmin didn’t give one - he’d completely forgotten how to do anything much more than breathe - he went on. “Like so, so much. I’m really glad we’ve been friends for so long, you know? You’re so...special.”

Seungmin felt a little like he was choking, wishing he had words to tell Felix how special _he_ was, how much he meant to _Seungmin_. But while Felix was the kind of emotionally open, free person he was, completely unable to keep things inside for long, Seungmin was...the opposite, to say the least.

_Emotionally constipated_ , was how Hyunjin had described him at least once, and while Seungmin had thrown an eraser at him at the time, he was honestly inclined to agree.

“Same to you…” he mumbled, feeling more than a little bit useless. “Really.”

Felix was quiet. Maybe Seungmin had taken too long to even attempt to respond to him, or maybe Seungmin’s reply had been so stupid, so... _nothing_ that Felix had chosen to go to sleep rather than continue the conversation.

But Felix couldn’t be asleep. He was still fiddling with Seungmin’s shirt. His breaths had fallen out of time, a little uneven, and while he said nothing for a long time, Seungmin could feel the other boy opening his mouth as if to speak, before closing it again.

“Seungmin, I…” Felix’s hold on Seungmin’s shirt tightened. “ _I’m_ …” it was like he couldn’t decide which language to use. Seungmin could understand that - sometimes he didn’t have any intelligent words to say in either. But Felix was good at words, not like Seungmin. He was good at words, good at feelings. He took a breath. _“I think I’ve fallen in love with you._ ”

Seungmin officially forgot how to do _anything_ , including breathing this time.

Had he fallen asleep? Was he dreaming? It wouldn’t be the first time.

Maybe he’d just misheard what Felix said? Or misunderstood the other boy’s English, or-

“Seungminnie…?” the uncertain shake in Felix’s voice broke Seungmin’s heart into pieces and put it all together again at the same time. Felix was waiting for a response - he needed to say something, _anything_ , but he just didn’t know how. Instead, Seungmin squeezed Felix tightly, so tightly that it drew a little _oof_ from Felix as he was pulled impossibly close against him. So close, Seungmin couldn’t possibly let go. Like he’d die.

Felix’s words echoed in Seungmin’s head. _I think I’ve fallen in love with you._ He’d really said it. _Fallen in love_ . For real. _In love_ . With _Seungmin_.

He ran his fingers through Felix’s hair, words continuing to fail him. His head was empty, but his heart was so full. Now he just needed to let Felix know that, as while he couldn’t see the other boy’s face, he could feel the nervous tension in his entire body as he held him tight.

He pressed a kiss to the top of Felix’s head, continuing to play with his hair. Another, another, ever so lightly, but hopefully enough for Felix to understand.

_“Oh,_ ” Felix sounded almost breathless, shivering a little bit. He wriggled in Seungmin’s arms, until he could look up to meet Seungmin’s eyes for the first time in a while. There was something there, shining in Felix’s eyes in the low light, that Seungmin didn’t think he’d ever seen before. _“I...you…do you…?”_ English was the language of the moment, it seemed.

It also seemed like, despite Seungmin’s ongoing uselessness, Felix found the answers to his questions anyway. In Seungmin’s expression, in the way Seungmin continued to stroke his hair, kept his hold around Felix’s waist. A shaky smile began to spread across Felix’s face, not quite the sun, but still blinding, the centre of Seungmin’s universe as he moved up the bed a little bit. _“Seungmin,”_ he didn’t sound very sure, but he was sure enough, and just his name from Felix’s lips took Seungmin’s breath away. _“Can I kiss you?”_

Seungmin finally, across every language in the world, remembered just one word. The only one he needed. _“Please.”_

  
  


He brought his hand up to cup Felix’s jaw, stroking his thumb over the other boy’s cheek, and the last thought he had before their lips connected was how soft Felix’s skin was - maybe the skincare routine really did have something to it. That thought, as with every other one Seungmin could possibly have had, was discarded the moment Felix’s lips met his own.

Soft. So, so soft - a barely-there press of lips as they slowly, slowly began to figure things out between them. Seungmin didn’t have much experience in kissing, and he knew Felix didn’t either, but apparently one of the pros of kissing your best friend was that you ended up able to read each other just well enough that this wasn’t a problem.

Maybe it helped that Seungmin had spent an embarrassing amount of time daydreaming about what it would be like to kiss Felix. Maybe Felix had been thinking the same thing, all this time.

Not that imagination compared to the real thing.

It was Seungmin who took the initiative to push things a little further, parting his lips to kiss Felix more deeply. Felix had kept things sweetly innocent until then, but readily responded in kind, and brought his hand up from Seungmin’s chest to stroke lightly over his neck. A shudder coursed through Seungmin at the touch, but if it bothered Felix or if he even noticed, he didn’t let it show, save for perhaps kissing Seungmin a little more insistently, a little more boldly.

Kissing Felix didn’t feel weird. It didn’t feel scary. It felt more like something they could have been doing - _should_ have been doing - for a long time now.

Whenever they parted, someone - maybe Seungmin, maybe Felix, maybe both of them - would quickly lean in again. As they grew more confident, their kisses less chaste (though still no more than lips on lips) it was the sounds more than anything that gave Seungmin that little extra thrill. His own heartbeat pounding in his ears; soft hums and sighs and indeterminable whispers from Felix; the quiet but undeniable sounds of _kisses_ each time they broke apart, however briefly.

“Seungmin,” Felix whispered against Seungmin’s lips, and while Seungmin wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them once more, that painful uncertainty had returned to the other boy’s voice and he felt compelled to listen. “Is this...are we…? I mean, when we wake up tomorrow, you know. Will this be…?”

“I have feelings. For you.” Oh, Seungmin felt like a complete idiot. Felix was so good at choosing his words when it mattered, and Seungmin was just… “Romantically.” he wanted to smack himself. Still, as he could feel Felix’s mouth form a surprised little _o_ against his own before spreading into a smile, he had to be doing something right. “I have for an embarrassingly long time, so they’ll probably still be there in the morning, yeah.”

“Oh, wow,” was all Felix could say to that, at least with words. Seungmin was inclined to agree, especially as Felix moved to position himself above Seungmin properly, hands pressed into the mattress above Seungmin’s shoulders while Seungmin threaded his fingers through Felix’s hair. _“Wow.”_

And then they were kissing again. Like it was more natural than breathing.

It was embarrassing, how quickly Seungmin found himself wanting more. Just a little while ago he wouldn’t have dared imagine so much as kissing Felix in real life, and yet here he was, heart threatening to burst out of his chest as his imagination rocketed into overdrive. He wanted to be bold - wanted to explore Felix’s mouth, or kiss down the other boy’s neck, or slip his hands up and under his pyjama shirt and _touch_ . He wanted to push Felix back against the pillows and kiss him senseless, kiss him until he forgot how to speak Korean, until he forgot how to say anything but _Seungmin_ . It was almost scary, letting himself really _want_ for the first time, but oh, how Seungmin wanted.

Still, however much Seungmin wanted, now wasn’t the time. It was late, they were both tired, and there was a small worry in the back of his mind that the next time they broke apart, Seungmin would need to yawn.

It felt simultaneously like they had all the time in the world, but not enough time at all.

Instead of all the things Seungmin knew he eventually wanted, he settled on one little tease, a show of his future intentions. It was something he’d read about in a book, once, and while he hadn’t been exactly sure why it would feel good when he first read about it, as he placed a soft peck to Felix’s lower lip before lightly swiping over it with the tip of his tongue, the sharp gasp it drew from Felix sent shivers down his spine.

_“H-ah,”_ make that yet another way that Felix’s voice could drive Seungmin up the wall. It felt too warm, suddenly, like all too much but nowhere near enough, especially as Felix hesitantly returned the favour. There were sounds Seungmin never knew he could make, but apparently Felix, and probably only Felix, was able to coax them out of him.

Neither of them pushed any further than that, much as Seungmin may have wanted to. As they kissed, their movements began to slow, Felix’s arms shaking just a little bit as he held himself up. Seungmin was thinking again, but just barely as his need for Felix became gradually overshadowed by his need for sleep. _Tired. Sleep. Felix_.

By the time their kisses had devolved into slowly, barely moving their mouths against each other’s, it was only in a moment of clarity that Seungmin reached over to switch off the bedside lamp. In the darkness, he felt Felix’s lips leave his own, to trail lightly down his neck before stopping at the neckline of his shirt.

Felix nuzzled into Seungmin’s chest, then, and wrapping his arms around him, Seungmin let sleep overcome him like a wave.

-

When Seungmin awoke the next morning, he noticed two things.

Firstly, with a glance over at the clock on his bedside table, it seemed he was awake early. Way earlier than his usual alarm.

Second, Felix was still cuddled right up against him, and Seungmin realised that the previous night’s events hadn’t been an embarrassing dream, but instead a pretty incredible reality.

What really brought that second part home was when Seungmin looked away from the clock to instead focus on Felix, only to find that his best friend was also awake, eyes trained on Seungmin’s face with a flush across his freckled cheeks - especially once he realised he’d been caught. Seungmin had a million questions on his tongue, but they all vanished when he realised that Felix was looking at his lips, and he couldn’t really resist looking at Felix’s in return.

He’d been awake all of two minutes and was already thinking about kissing. This was simultaneously the best and worst thing to ever happen to him.

“ _Good morning~”_ Seungmin decided to be the first to break the silence, and Felix’s mouth once again formed that beaming sunshine smile, just as he hoped it would.

_“Morning~”_

If Felix had more to say - greetings, uncertainties, questions - Seungmin decided to stop them all in their tracks with the only answer he knew how to give. Tipping Felix’s head up a little, he pressed their lips together firmly, revelling in the little _squeak_ Felix gave in response before settling into kissing him back. He could get used to this. Really, really used to it.

Seungmin thought back to the clock on the bedside table.

“You and me,” he began, lips brushing against Felix’s as he spoke, unwilling to pull away. Felix nodded, urging him to continue. “We’re gonna go brush our teeth. Then we’ll come back here, and kiss until we’re almost late for school. But only almost, yeah?”

Felix chuckled, but the shudder in his shoulders betrayed him, and Seungmin could feel a distinct skip in Felix’s pulse where his hand rested on the other boy’s neck. “You sure like to live dangerously.”

“I like you.”

Felix just stared at him, then, open-mouthed, before suddenly snapping back into reality and excusing himself to the bathroom. Seungmin watched him go, watched him stumble over the spare mattress in the scant beginnings of sunlight that peeked in around the curtains.

Maybe the previous night hadn’t been able to go on forever, but that was okay. With the majority of his worries about the future - _their_ future - quelled, Seungmin could instead focus on making the most of each and every moment they had.

  
  


And for now, that was at _least_ a good couple of hours.

**Author's Note:**

> soft seunglix supremacy ♥
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jicasso_future) \+ [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/futurelikejicasso)


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